More support for children

The more than 1 million children in New York who receive child support payments can thank places like Madison and Oneida counties for a record-producing year in child support collections.

Child support collections were up 6.4 percent, or $104 million, in 2008, the highest rate of increase since 2001. Collections increased by 7.4 percent in Oneida County and 7 percent in Madison County over 2007.

State officials said a growing acknowledgement of paternity contributed to the increase. The total collection was about $1.7 billion in 2008.

Good. New York's children and families need all the support they can get -- especially when many must rely on state assistance to make up the gap.

The state should use whatever reasonable means are available to prompt parents with the financial ability to pay up.

In some cases, the state has been owed child support for 30 years or more, which has contributed to child support arrears of as much as $4 billion at times.